A nationally known trial attorney, John represents major corporations and high-net-worth individuals in their most consequential disputes. Over four decades of practice, he has taken more than 200 cases to trial, litigated before a wide variety of courts and administrative agencies nationwide, faced highly accomplished plaintiffs’ counsel, and won verdicts valued at nine and ten digits. His track record of trial victories and favorable settlements is such that the country’s most sophisticated clients request John’s participation when excellence is absolutely required. John is vice chair of the Global Insurance Department at Cozen O'Connor and co-chairs the Strategic Risk and Complex Litigation group.
The global head of claims for one of the world’s largest insurers appointed John to serve on an elite task force of just seven trial attorneys who lead the company’s most critical litigation. High-net-worth individuals and celebrities hire John to resolve private commercial litigation when confidentiality and discretion are nearly as important as the ultimate resolution.
Working as a trial lawyer and dispute strategist, John has accrued deep substantive knowledge of a multitude of legal practices, including:
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Product liability
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Director and officer liability
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Construction
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Environmental law and toxic torts
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Technology and cyber
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Complex insurance and reinsurance
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Sports and equestrian law
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Entertainment
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Personal and brain injury
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Defamation
His highest accolades are his verdicts, but John has also been publicly recognized by his peers as a leader in the field. He is an ALM New York Top-Rated Lawyer, a Martindale-Hubbell AV’s “Preeminent” attorney, and a fellow in the invitation-only Litigation Counsel of America.
John is the former president of the Defense Association of New York (DANY), has edited its quarterly journal for more than 20 years, and received DANY’s James S. Conway Award for Outstanding Service to the Defense Profession in 2013. He is a member of the Product Liability Advisory Council, a prestigious organization of leading manufacturers and hand-selected top product liability defense counsel.
An active author and lecturer, John speaks regularly to such groups as the Defense Research Institute (DRI), New York State Bar Association Torts, Insurance and Compensation Law Section, and American Conference Institute. He is widely published in the lay press and law journals and is a frequently cited source in Businessweek, The New York Times, and the New York Law Journal.
John is an alumni of St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers, MA, and serves on the Trustee Advisory Board and the Advancement Committee. John earned a B.A. from Boston College and his J.D. from New England School of Law.